Former teammates to meet when Spurs face Celtics

The Spurs' Antonio McDyess and Boston's Rasheed Wallace were Pistons teammates. Tonight, they face each other at AT&T Center.

By Mike Monroe :
December 2, 2009

Power forward Antonio McDyess has been a solid fit for the Spurs, averaging 6.9 points and 6.0 rebounds in about 21 minutes per game, numbers similar to Rasheed Wallace's.

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Test vs. the best

With the 14-4 Boston Celtics in town, the Spurs face one of the league's elite. The Spurs are 1-2 against teams four games above .500 or better this year, splitting with the Mavericks (14-5) and losing to the Trail Blazers (12-8).

4-5: Record vs. teams .500 or better

5-1: Record vs. teams below .500

Records before games Wednesday

Streaky series

The Celtics won 20 straight from 1980-90, and the Spurs won 18 straight from 1997-2007. Since snapping a 15-game skid in S.A., Boston has won the last three:

91-85, March 17, 2007: Tim Duncan suffers first loss to Celtics, who are led by Paul Pierce's 30 points.

93-91, March 17, 2008: Defending NBA champions drop their fourth straight, blowing a 22-point third-quarter lead to the eventual champs.

When Rasheed Wallace answered the doorbell at his home in the suburbs north of Detroit on July 2, standing on his front porch were the most important members of the Boston Celtics organization.

If the Pistons power forward had any doubt that the archrival Celtics truly wanted him to accept the free-agent offer they were about to present, owner Wyc Grousbeck, general manager Danny Ainge, head coach Doc Rivers and the team's "big three" - All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen - were there to erase them.

At about the same time, the phone was ringing in Antonio McDyess' home in Houston. Spurs president of basketball operations Gregg Popovich was on the line, letting McDyess know the four-time NBA champions would love to put him alongside Tim Duncan on the Spurs' frontline.

The Spurs' low-key approach landed McDyess, Wallace's Pistons teammate for five seasons. He has found a spot in the starting lineup and will be on the court at tipoff of tonight's Spurs-Celtics game at the AT&T Center.

Tonight's game offers the first chance for a head-to-head analysis of two of the more significant free-agent signings of the summer.

Thus far, both teams are getting similar contributions. Both average just over 21 minutes per game; Wallace averages 8.9 points, to McDyess' 6.9; McDyess averages 6.0 rebounds to Wallace's 4.0; McDyess has made 51.3 percent of his shots to Wallace's 37.3 percent.

McDyess called Wallace's decision to sign with the Celtics, a team Pistons fans loved to hate, a bit of a shock.

"The things (the Pistons) had going with Boston the last couple years, I was surprised he signed there, and not only me," McDyess said. "A lot of the other guys on our team in Detroit were surprised.

"It wasn't genuine dislike between us and the Celtics, but when you compete so hard against a team, well, it would have been like Reggie Miller going to New York from the Pacers. You know the guys on his team would have been saying, 'Oh, you want to go to New York?' "

The Spurs' low-key approach was perfect for McDyess, who said he would not have known what to make of a big Spurs contingent on his front lawn.

"I'm no Rasheed Wallace," he said. "If I was a Rasheed Wallace, the Spurs' approach might have been different. But the Spurs are low-key, and they wouldn't want it any other way.

"I'm the type of player who fits in this organization. I'm a low-key type person. I ain't all out there. That's how I feel this team is - just low-key."

McDyess is apt to be matched up against Wallace at some point tonight. He admits it will feel odd going against his old friend.

"He's a great, great teammate, with a lot of enthusiasm on the court," McDyess said. "I played with him so many years, and now having an opportunity to play against him is going to be weird. At this point, we're just trying to get a win. I have to put all that friendship behind me."

Wallace took an oblique shot at the Spurs during the news conference at which he was introduced to the Boston media.

"Not taking anything away from San Antonio," he said then, "but I would have to say a few of the changes that they made on their bench and on their roster didn't quite sit with me too well."